


Horns Up!

by Bethadots



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Action/Adventure, Bull's Chargers, Free Marches (Dragon Age)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-03
Updated: 2018-04-03
Packaged: 2019-04-17 18:39:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,655
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14195247
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bethadots/pseuds/Bethadots
Summary: They're the best company you'll find from here to the Anderfels. Follow Bull's Chargers as they adventure across Thedas taking on everything from bandits to magic trees. They're expensive but you'll never doubt they're worth it. (Takes place before the events of Dragon Age Inquisition.)





	1. The Double Double-Cross, Part 1

**The Double Double-Cross, Part 1**

Krem cradled his teacup in both hands, a bit terrified he'd end up spilling its contents on what looked to be an expensive tablecloth. It was just as well the Chief hadn't come himself; the room was so full of furniture and knick-knacks that just squeezing the big lug past the china cabinet would have been tricky. Doing it without breaking anything would have been nigh impossible.

"So Serah… Aclassi, was it? Does that sound like something your team can handle?"

"We go into the mine, take out the bandits who murdered your business partner, report back," Krem answered. "Sounds simple enough." And a damn sight better than their last job. This one would see that everyone got paid and nobody had to dress up in feathers.

"Distasteful business, I'm afraid, but yes." The man's name was Brayton Belcourt. A Free Marcher, but one of those rich ones who liked to play at being as fancy as the Orlesians.

One of Belcourt's dogs came over and laid its head in Krem's lap, leaving a slimy trail of slobber across his thigh as it sniffed at Krem's plate in the hopes that a morsel of cake might remain. Krem didn't dare shoo it away considering their potential employer had spent most of the meeting speaking in a baby voice to the animal and feeding it from the table.

"Shouldn't take more than a day or two. Especially if we can get those maps you promised," Krem assured him.

"The maps will be yours. Along with this…" Belcourt slid a note across the table for Krem to examine. His eyes widened as he turned it over to reveal a rather large number. "Half of that up front, and a bonus if your crew is willing to dispose of the bodies as well. I want their filth gone from my mine."

Krem knew well enough to recognize a  _no questions asked_ sort of number when he saw one. Still, it would be enough to keep every last Charger paid for a month, and work this far north had been slim pickings. He gave Belcourt a lopsided smile, rose to his feet and offered out his hand to shake. "I'll let the Iron Bull know that the Chargers have a new client."

* * *

Back at camp, Krem could tell the team were restless. Work had been slow of late, and they'd been camping in this spot for a few days with nothing to do but wait. It happened every once in awhile, especially with mercenary bands that hadn't been around long enough to earn much of a reputation yet.

He found the Iron Bull over at the edge of camp interviewing that Fereldan they'd found in a tavern a couple of nights back. He was a healer: something they'd sorely needed for a couple of months now. Their last healer -  _Potions_ , as the boss had called him - had vanished mysteriously. Dalish swore blind that she'd seen him turn himself into a nug and frolic off into the woods, but the others had just assumed the templars had nabbed him or he'd blown himself up with some spell gone wrong.

"Ah, and here's my Lieutenant, Cremesius Aclassi," Iron Bull announced as he saw Krem draw near. "Krem, you remember Stitches? He's going to come along for the next job. Kind of a trial run to see if he's a good fit. His idea."

"Stitches isn't actually my name," the man pointed out as he and Krem shook hands. He didn't sound particularly irked though.

Krem just smiled. "The Chief gives everyone nicknames. Everyone he's planning to keep, anyhow."

Before Stitches could say anything to that, Iron Bull looked to Krem and asked, "How was the meeting?"

"Oh yeah. So nice of you to send  _me_  to have tea with the rich bastard who treats his dogs better than his servants." It had been the right choice. They both knew that the man had given off an  _oxmen are nothing but savages_ sort of vibe. Krem was still going to give Bull a hard time about it though.

"Now, now, don't be sour, Krem." Bull suddenly nudged the newcomer with his elbow, almost knocking the man off balance. "Get it?  _Sour Krem?"_

As Bull started laughing - just him and no one else - Krem rolled his eyes and looked to Stitches. "Don't mind the Chief, he'll still pay you even if you don't laugh at his jokes."

Stitches looked relieved. "That's good to know, Ser."

Bull wasn't fazed. "Come and meet some of the men," he said, gesturing to where several familiar faces were gathered around the campfire not far off. "Rocky here's our sapper. Then there's Grim - he doesn't say much - and Dalish. Dalish is–"

Dalish interrupted before he could finish. "I'm not a–"

"– _not a mage,_  we know," Krem cut in.

"I was going to say I'm not a  _man,"_ Dalish argued. "But now that you mention it..."

Krem rolled his eyes. "Right."

Bull turned to the dwarf of the party and said, "Rocky, think you can get our new company healer settled in?"

Rocky immediately hopped to his feet. "You got it, boss." As the dwarf led their new recruit further into the camp, he was already speaking so fervently about all the different types of explosives he could make that Stitches couldn't get a word in edgeways.

Bull then turned to speak with his Lieutenant, and Krem could tell by the way he held himself and the more pensive expression on his face that now it was time for a more serious discussion.

"What's your read on the guy?"

Krem's gaze followed Rocky and Stitches. "Seems a bit stoic, but Fereldans are like that, aren't they? He'll loosen up once Rocky gets a few drinks in him."

Bull's mouth twitched. "I meant Belcourt."

"Ah." Krem shrugged. "Rubs me the wrong way if I'm honest, but the job's simple and the pay is good."

Bull raised an eyebrow. "You think he's not telling us the whole story?"

Krem gave Bull  _that look_ to say he knew what the Chief was doing. Bull had been teaching his Lieutenant to consider all the angles before they started a job for someone they didn't know, and this was a test of how well the lessons had stuck. "I think he likes his money and his status more than he likes anything or anyone else, save maybe his dogs. People like him are always hiding something. Could be nothing."

"Could be  _something,"_ Bull countered. "You still took the job though."

"It shouldn't be risky and we need the money," was all Krem had to say to that.

Nodding in agreement, Iron Bull suddenly turned back to camp and raised his voice enough that it would carry over whatever everyone else was doing. "Get ready to move out, Chargers! We just got hired."

* * *

The explosion was impressive, and Rocky looked far too pleased with himself as the mine entrance loudly collapsed into a pile of boulders. Krem rolled his eyes as the man did the usual little dance in celebration, kicking his little dwarven legs as high as he could. Still, nothing had exploded that wasn't supposed to explode, which wasn't always the case when Rocky got excited.

Bull gave Krem a nudge with his elbow and said, "Looks like we're off to a  _Rocky_ start," prompting the Lieutenant to let out a noise that was half laugh, half sigh.

It wasn't the only entrance into the mine, just the Chargers' way of ensuring their quarry didn't escape the back way. Now all they had to do was attack from the front.

"Let's give these bandits their eviction notice, shall we?" the Chief said once everyone had gathered at the entrance.

Bull led the charge, with Krem hot on his heels, both roaring as they ran in. This was always Krem's favourite part, when his blood started to pump and the world suddenly became a much simpler place where everything boiled down to the Chargers and the people in their way.

At first it seemed like there were only a handful of men with swords and shields, and Krem wondered for a moment if Belcourt had overpaid them. Then their targets fell back to a space deeper inside the mine, leaving the Chargers little choice but to pursue, and Krem began to worry what these bandits might have managed to cook up once the back way had been collapsed.

Sure enough, as they followed their quarry, some rogues appeared from stealth to flank them. "Behind us. Watch your asses, Chargers!" Bull called to alert anyone who might not have noticed.

It was a tougher fight than they were expecting, that was certain. Maybe  _that_ was the reason they'd been offered so much money. The bandits had decent weapons and knew what they were doing with them, and soon the Chargers were taking nearly as much punishment as they were doling out.

A shield bash that Krem really should have been ready for knocked him off his feet, landing him flat on his back and winded by the fall. As his attacker moved to follow through with a downward blow, Krem had just one word on his mind.  _Shit..._

Just then, a sudden cry of, "Fire!" made the man about to kill Krem pause and look up. Krem arched his head to see Dalish summon a large ball of flame and let it fly.

Had it hit its target, it probably would have knocked the man off his feet. Instead, it crashed into the ceiling above them. Krem was faintly aware of Dalish muttering, "Whoopsie," but his main focus was on rolling out of the way of his attacker. It was a good thing too, since in the next moment the man was crushed to death as part of the ceiling collapsed - thanks, of course, to Dalish's fireball.

"Dalish!" Krem roared as a boulder crashed into the ground just inches from his head, and loose dust and rubble rained down over him. "Mind the spells!"

"I don't  _have_  any spells, but if I  _did_ have any, then I would've saved your hide and you wouldn't have a scratch on you. So you'd be welcome," she said indignantly as she held a hand out to help him up.

Krem sighed, then nodded. "Then I'd say thanks for the uh….  _fire flask,_ " he said softly as the fighting came to a standstill around them.

Once he was on his feet, he took a moment to survey the damage. None of the Chargers seemed to have been caught in the cave-in. Their side of the collapse seemed stable, and they had a clear path to the mine's entrance. That was good. What was more, Dalish seemed to have managed to pen in all the bandits who'd survived their initial foray. That was good too. Maybe from here, they'd just have to lay siege for a bit, and clear the rubble enough to finish them all off once they were too hungry to put up much of a resistance.

Only when he noticed that Bull wasn't saying any of this out loud did Krem realize that one of them had managed to slash the Chief across the chest. The Qunari hissed through his teeth as he pressed a hand to the cut, applying pressure like every good soldier knew to do while waiting for the healer's attention.

"You all right, Chief?" Krem asked, letting a bit of concern into his voice as he moved closer.

Bull answered that with a  _what does it look like?_ sort of look, but Krem knew it was just frustration over taking a hit he thought he should have seen coming.

"Any of that seem strange to you?" Bull asked, sitting down on a boulder, just as Stitches arrived to silently examine the wound.

"Well-equipped for bandits," Krem noted. "They were ready for us and they fought like a team."

Stitches gave Bull a clean cloth to press over the wound, then settled down beside them, removed several items from his pack and began crushing herbs with a pestle and mortar. "The matching green cloaks were strange, I thought," the Fereldan added, not looking up from his work.

"Right. That too," said Bull. "What did Belcourt tell you about them?" he asked Krem.

"Just that they murdered his business partner and burned down the guy's house. Then moved into the mine, kicked all the workers out and dug in deep," Krem answered.

"Could be there's something valuable down here that they were hired to find by a business rival," Stitches offered. At the same time, he bundled up the herbs he'd mixed together into some cloth, then poured some water from his skin onto it.

"Hey, that's not a bad theory," Bull noted, sounding impressed.

"What's the plan for now?" asked Krem.

"We wait," Bull decided. "We could clear the rubble, but it's better to let them tire themselves out doing it. They'll need to come out sooner or later. When they do, we'll be ready."

When their new healer offered out the soggy bundle of cloth he'd made, Bull just stared at it for a moment, a rare perplexed look on his face. Then he shrugged, raised it to his lips and sucked out the liquid. When he was done, he coughed, pounded his chest, then rose to his feet. "Damn, that's some nasty tasting medicine right there," he laughed, patting Stitches on the back before he left to check on some of the others.

Stitches blinked in confusion. "It's a poultice," he said to Krem. "He wasn't supposed to drink it."

Krem just grinned. "Don't tell him. Let's see how long it takes him to figure it out for himself."

* * *

They set up camp not far from the collapse and took turns to go on watch, with one person manning the mine's front entrance and one manning the pile of rubble that had the bandits trapped. Krem took the last watch by the mine's entrance, bleary-eyed as he stumbled out to relieve Grim in the last couple of hours before the dawn. Not exciting work, but Krem didn't mind the time alone with his thoughts - especially when something about the job didn't seem to line up.

In hindsight, a bit less thinking and a bit more paying attention might have saved him from being surprised by the woman who snuck up behind him. "Do what I say and I won't hurt you," her voice murmured close to his ear as a dagger pressed to his throat.

"Can't really promise you the same," Krem replied, using a clever little maneuver the Chief had taught him to get the dagger away from his neck and throw the woman over his shoulder. He wrapped his arms around her tightly, keeping her arms pinned to her sides so that she couldn't stab him.

"Where did  _you_ come from?" he demanded, right before her head snapped back to smack him in the nose. The impact made his eyes tear and he felt blood trickle out of his nostrils and down over his lips.

"I was on this side when your mage made the ceiling cave in. I hid," came her answer, just as her boot crunched down on his foot and she swivelled around to tackle him. He hadn't had time to recover from the assault on his nose to really do anything to stop it.

Only then did Krem get a good look at her face. She was cute for a bandit: dark hair pulled back into a loose low ponytail and a smattering of freckles over her nose. She pressed her dagger to his throat and Krem closed his eyes tightly, sure that she was about to slit him open. Certain as he was that he was about to die, all he could think was that he'd failed the Chief.

"I'm not going to kill you," he heard her say. "I need your help. We got played by Belcourt. Just like he's playing you."


	2. The Double Double-Cross, Part 2

"Let me get this straight," Bull was saying to Krem. "This lady–"

"–the name's Maggie," she interrupted.

"Right. Maggie - one of the bandits we were hired to kill - sneaks up during your watch to ask for a truce, so you bring her into the camp?"

"That's about it." She smiled up at the Bull, not seeming the least bit intimidated by him. Krem sort of had to admire that; most people had to eye him warily a few times before he had a chance to turn on the spy charm and put them at ease. "Well, there  _was_ a bit of a tussle and I had to tackle him to make him listen," she added, "but we worked things out."

A slow grin spread across Bull's face as his gaze shifted to Krem. "There was tackling, huh?"

Krem felt his cheeks grow hot. He wasn't sure if he was more embarrassed that she'd got the jump on him or that Bull was assuming he'd liked it. "Tell him what you told me, Maggie."

"The  _bandits_ you were hired to clear out aren't bandits. We're mercs, just like your group." Maggie tugged at the green cloak she was wearing, the same one all the people they'd faced in the mine had worn. "We call ourselves the Jadecloaks."

Krem looked to Bull, who nodded and said, "I've heard of you. Good team by all accounts. Should've recognized the outfits…"

Maggie shrugged. "It's dark in here and you had the fight to worry about."

"So why  _would_  Belcourt hire us to kill a bunch of mercenaries?" asked Krem.

"For the same reason he hired the Jadecloaks in the first place: to kill someone who was in his way."

Krem thought back to his meeting with Belcourt. "He tricked you into murdering his business partner, then saw you blamed for it."

"Hardly seems fair to wipe out a good, honest, hard-working crew just to cover your own ass, does it?" Maggie said. Then she looked to Bull and added, "He's smart, your Lieutenant."

"Yep. He's the crème de la Krem," the Chief agreed with a wink, prompting Krem to roll his eyes. It had almost been a full week since Bull had last used that joke. "Think you could sit over there while I have a word with him in private?"

"By all means." Maggie gave a polite little bow, then walked away to sit on a nearby boulder.

Now it was just Krem and the Chief. "Thoughts?" Bull asked.

"Doesn't sit right with me, being sent to wipe out a crew just for doing the job they were paid for." Krem let out a heavy sigh. "And if he's happy to screw  _them_ over, he'd damn well be happy to do the same to us later on if he saw a need. I'd rather confront him about it, even if it means not getting the rest of our pay. Maybe with the Jadecloaks there too."

Bull gave a nod, looking somewhat impressed by his Lieutenant. "Fair for everyone. I like it. Belcourt's not going to, but that's why we'll bring our swords."

* * *

The first step of their plan to team up with the Jadecloaks and confront their mutual employer involved clearing the rubble. Krem had never seen Rocky look quite so sullen as when the Chief informed him that he was absolutely not allowed to use any  _booms_ to get the job done, no matter how certain he was that he could do it without causing another cave-in.

"How come Dalish gets to use magic to help? She brought the ceiling down in the first place!" the dwarf protested.

"I'm not a–" Dalish began, but was quickly interrupted by a " _We know!"_ from everyone else.

As Krem and Bull heaved the last boulder out of the way, Maggie stepped forward and said, "Let me go through first, okay? I'll talk to the Captain and make sure everyone's weapons are sheathed when they come out."

Bull agreed, and stepped out of the way to let her through. Krem could tell he was sizing her up as she stepped past, thinking of every possible angle she might be coming at this from, and every possible outcome of playing along with her. The chief had good instincts, and if he thought it was safe to let Maggie through, Krem was happy to trust him.

It wasn't long before she emerged again with several of her fellow Jadecloaks in tow. They looked tired and a bit grubby but not too worse for wear. A couple had wounds, which Stitches was happy to tend to at Bull's behest.

"The Iron Bull, Cremisius, I'd like you to meet the Jadecloaks' captain," Maggie announced. "This is Sully Two-toes."

He had the look of a captain. He held himself a bit taller than the rest. His face was stuck in a grim expression, and he had enough scars to tell he'd seen more than his fair share of fights.

"Nice name," Bull said, then offered out a hand for him to shake. "Good to meet ya."

Sully Two-toes shook it. "The Iron Bull, eh? I've heard of you. Not thrilled about this whole double-cross business, but if Belcourt had to hire someone to come after us, I'm glad he went with someone decent."

"Yeah, we're not thrilled about it either," Bull admitted. "What do you say we go and have a word with our employer, huh?"

The two were fast friends from that moment.

* * *

The gate to Belcourt's manse wasn't without its guards, but there were far too few of them to deal with the invasion of two mercenary groups. Bull sent his flankers up ahead to hide until the inevitable distraction of a band of warriors led by a horned giant marching up the driveway. When they struck, it was quick and non-lethal. It wasn't right for more people to die just for being caught up in Belcourt's mess.

"You find anyone else in there, lock them in the cellar for now," Bull ordered. "Only knock them out if they put up a fight. And watch your backs in there. A scared servant with a knife can still kill you, even if their hands are shaking when they do it."

As they went inside, the Chargers each buddied up with someone ready to search the house. They always did that whenever breaking into somewhere they weren't welcome, and this place certainly qualified. Often it was Krem's job to keep Dalish out of trouble, but tonight Bull decided that Stitches and Dalish should both keep watch at the door. In other words, they were having their 'backup archer' and their healer hang back in case of an ambush.

Krem happily partnered up with Grim, and the two began to silently search the east wing of the house. They didn't get far before Maggie appeared from the shadows, her hand landing on Krem's arm to tug him in the direction of a large spiralling staircase. Krem let her lead him and Grim followed without a word or a grunt.

As they neared the top, they began to hear barking, and Krem suddenly feared that the alarm would be raised. Instead they heard a loud groan of, "Quiet, Fifi!" from beyond the double doors at the very top of the stairs.

Maggie chuckled, which in turn made Krem crack a smile. She was cute when she laughed.

"I'm not a fan of killing dogs," she whispered. "Let me lure  _Fifi_  into the servant's corridor, then you two kick down the door, okay?"

So Krem waited with Grim outside the master bedroom until they heard a door creaking open. There followed a growl and the sound of four legs pattering across a rug. Then that same door slammed shut, and that was their cue.

They found Belcourt already sitting up, awake and confused. They didn't give him time to be fully alert before they ran over and dragged him from his bed. "You're coming with us," Krem insisted, already ignoring the man's protests. "Got some folk who want to talk with you."

Maggie appeared in the doorway just then, and beckoned them over. "This way. The safe is bound to be in his study."

"You seem like you already know your way around," Krem noted.

She shrugged. "Just worked for enough rich ponces to guess my way around a big house."

There were a few more minutes of dragging the reluctant noble before the man found himself pushed into the big chair in his study, surrounded by Sully, Bull and enough men from each crew to make sure he was truly intimidated.

"I take it this is the part where you kill me and ransack my estate?"

Bull's answer came with an expansive shrug. "We're not unreasonable men. We got the Jadecloaks out of your mine just like you wanted. Just pay us what you owe us, and you'll never have to see any of us again."

He eyed Bull warily for a moment, then looked to Sully Two-toes. "I misled you, but I didn't lie. My partner was a monster. The workers would've been better off with him gone. The teenager he bought for a bride certainly is."

"Then why not just tell us the truth?" Sully asked.

Belcourt swallowed. "The man was a merchant prince with powerful ties. I knew my chances of survival were better if I made it seem like bandits raided the mine while he was inspecting it."

At that, Sully spat at the man's feet. "Making an entire company collateral damage for muck like this. You could have sent any old thugs to do that for you. You didn't need a crew of professionals."

"I did if I wanted to ensure my partner's death," he argued.

"Enough," came Bull's voice, commanding attention like a crack of thunder. "Just pay us what we're due. Throw in a big enough tip and we won't even stomp those pretty rose bushes in your front yard on our way out."

Belcourt looked back and forth between the two company captains as he considered that, clearly wary of both of. Bull stepping closer seemed to win his attention in the end. That was the chief's way of reminding the pampered noble that he was in no position to bargain.

They were grudgingly paid, to Krem's great relief. He'd been worried they'd have to threaten or harm one of the dogs to get the man to act. Certainly that would have gotten more of a reaction than threatening any of the servants that were currently locked away in the cellar.

"Well, Belcourt, it's been a pleasure," Bull said cheerily. "You won't mind if we help ourselves to a couple of casks when we let your servants out, will you?" When Belcourt muttered something unwise that sounded like  _filthy oxman_  under his breath in response, the Qunari just chuckled and led his men from the room. The chief was never the sort to let words faze him.

Krem waited to be the last to leave so that he could fix Belcourt with a glare. He felt responsible for getting the Chargers mixed up in this mess, after all.

Belcourt avoided his gaze and stared out of the window instead. "With the Maker's blessing, we won't meet again, Serah Aclassi," he said, sounding utterly defeated.

Nodding in agreement, Krem followed his fellow mercenaries from the room. As he turned to close the door, however, he saw Maggie standing there and blinked. Where had she been standing that he hadn't seen her? She winked at him, then shut the door in his face, and he heard her bolt it.

Frowning, he tried to re-open it, then pounded his fist against the wooden panel. Whatever this was about, he doubted it was good. "Maggie!" he called.

That brought Sully Two-toes over. "What's going on here?" Some of the other mercenaries had also been summoned back by the sudden commotion.

Before Krem could answer that, they heard a strangled cry from beyond the door. Eyes suddenly wide with panic, Krem called out for his leader. "Bull!"

The horned giant was at his side in an instant, and it took him a matter of seconds to charge through the door. Apparently pleased with himself, he grinned at Krem, but that expression fell away as they heard Sully gasp.

There was Brayton Belcourt slumped in his chair, his head lolling to one side at an awkward angle, a knife sticking out of his throat. As Krem stepped closer, he recognized the hilt of that knife, in fact, and only then became aware that it was missing from his belt. Blood was still gushing from the wound, but the life was already gone from Belcourt's eyes.

"Why would your flanker kill her?" Krem demanded, rounding on Sully.

Sully frowned in confusion. "My flanker?"

"Maggie."

"Maggie? The dark-haired lass?" Sully's frown deepened. "I thought she was  _your_  flanker…"

"You didn't wonder why she was wearing one of your cloaks?" Bull asked incredulously.

"She's a pretty lass," Sully said. "I figured one of my lot put it on her to make sure she didn't get cold."

"Then who  _is_  she working for?" Krem's eyes were drawn to the curtain swaying in the breeze coming in from a now open window. Whatever the answer, she was already gone.

"Someone wanted this asshole dead." Bull let out a grunt Krem recognized as him being reluctantly impressed. "She used us as a distraction so she could get close to him. Now anyone near enough to have seen anything gets to blame this whole mess on the band of mercs that came marching through the front gate."

Krem muttered a few choice words in Tevene under his breath. There didn't seem to be much else to say. This was bad for business, very bad for business indeed.

* * *

After that, it seemed wise to move their camp away from Belcourt's mine to more neutral ground. The Jadecloaks and the Chargers all moved to the nearby forest and pitched their tents side by side in a suitable clearing.

"Seems to me," Sully Two-toes was saying, "that anyone who saw us approach the estate, might be likely to remember that a good number of us were wearing jade-green Cloaks. Might be we can get through this with only one company taking the blame for what that assassin done."

"They also saw a big Qunari with an eyepatch," Bull pointed out.

"Yeah, but you weren't the one who dealt with Belcourt, Chief. I was," said Krem. And how he wished he'd seen through Belcourt right away; perhaps all of this mess could have been avoided if he had.

Sully smiled, an oddly soft expression for such a grizzled looking man. "We've lost a good number of our company as it is. Not that I blame you for doing what that bastard paid you to do, but it's the truth. The Jadecloaks are scuppered anyway, let us take the blame for this one. Then at least some of us can get out of this mess clean."

Bull and Krem exchanged looks, and Krem knew they were both thinking the same thing. He let Bull voice the thought though. "Tell you what, Sully: I'll offer a place in the Chargers to any one of your Jadecloaks who wants to keep working. They seem like a good crew and we can always use a few more capable men. What do you say?"

A slow smile spread across Sully's lips. Krem could tell that the man was sad to see his company die, but at least they wouldn't all be jobless and starting from scratch. "I'd say that's a plan worth drinking to."

* * *

Later that night, once the two companies had started drinking together, Krem got up to relieve himself - something he preferred to do away from the others to ensure privacy. He walked into the woods until the drunken singing sounded nice and distant, then worked at opening his belt.

"Ahhh, that was fun," he heard Maggie's voice say, and turned his head just in time to find her standing right beside him. She grinned and leaned her head to one side to stretch the cricks out of her neck. "I should use mercenaries for distractions more often." Her accent was different now, making her sound less like a Marcher. If Krem wasn't wrong, she sounded...  _Antivan_.

His eyes narrowed. "Are you one of them Crow assassins?"

The woman sank into a flourishing bow. "Magdalena Agosti of the Antivan Crows, at your service."

"Right. Well you probably shouldn't  _stay_ at my service considering half the people back at camp want you dead. You caused us a lot of trouble, you know." He shouldn't have been angry, he supposed, he'd only known the woman for a few hours. But he'd  _liked_ Maggie. He wasn't sure he could say the same of Magdalena.

She smirked. "Not as much trouble as he caused the people who hired me to kill him, I assure you. The man was a nasty piece of work. Still… Perhaps I can make it up to you in some small way?"

"We don't need your help," Krem grunted, folding his arms across his chest and pointedly looking away from her.

"Then don't think of it as help. Think of it as a tip from someone who owes you a debt." He could hear from her voice that she was moving closer to him as she said that, but he didn't turn his head, not even when he felt her hand touch his cheek.

"All right. I'm listening," he muttered impatiently.

"Head to Orlais. There's trouble brewing there the likes of which mercenaries and assassins can make a good living from."

Now he  _did_ look at her, brow furrowing. "What kind of trouble?"

She just shrugged. "My guess? The kind of trouble that ends with a different ass on the throne. Hired muscle is going to be in strong demand."

_That_  was something Bull would be interested in hearing. Krem had a feeling they'd be working out of Orlais a lot more if there was any truth to what Maggie was saying, whether the money was there or not. A brewing civil war would be just the sort of thing Bull's 'friends' in Par Vollen would want to know about.

"I think I'll keep the cloak," she announced, apparently having said all she was going to about Orlais. "For when I'm not tending to assassin business, I mean. It suits me, don't you think?" She moved into a twirl as if to demonstrate.

It did, but he wasn't about to say so. "You're heading back to Antiva then?"

"Eventually," she answered. "There are stops along the way, of course. My employers will want to know the deed is done. Oh, and I have to give you something before I leave."

Krem's brow crinkled with a frown. "What?"

She moved so swiftly that Krem didn't have a chance to acknowledge that she was stepping closer before her lips captured his. The kiss took him aback at first, but then something came over him. He found himself touching a hand to her cheek and kissing her back.

As their lips parted, he felt her press a small leather pouch into his hand, heard the soft jingling of coins within. "What's this?" he asked.

She winked. "You didn't think I'd drag you into my contract without giving you a cut, did you?"

Krem peeked inside the bag. "If this is  _a cut_ of an assassin contract, I'm in the wrong business."

"I  _might_ have padded it a bit with the rest of what was in Belcourt's study," she told him, smiling sweetly. Maggie stepped back then, and blew him a kiss. "Who knows? Maybe we'll bump into each other again. I never forget a handsome face."

"If we do, hopefully I won't forget that you're trouble," Krem grunted, realizing in that moment that a part of him did hope to see the Crow again, for all the trouble it would certainly bring.

"Ah, but I prefer to think of myself as  _fun,"_  she said, winking one last time before turning to vanish into the night.

Only then did Krem realize that the Chief was standing  _right there._ He cringed, then said, "You didn't see that," in a warning tone, wishing to make it clear that he was in no mood to be teased about what had just happened.

Bull stepped out of the shadows, a sympathetic smile on his lips. "See what?"

"Exactly." He tossed the coin purse to the Chief, who caught it deftly, then patted him on the shoulder and began to lead them back to camp. "And you can stop following me every time I need a piss in the night."

"How about only when I'm sure there aren't assassins nearby?" Bull suggested. "Come on, we're about to open the  _good_ casks. Plus Sully Two-toes promised to show everyone why they call him that. Rocky's got a pool going over whether that means one boot's coming off or two."

"Well that sounds like a party," Krem chuckled. "Will you stick around or have you got one of your  _letters_ to write?" he asked. It seemed like the fate of Brayton Belcourt might be of interest to the Qunari, at any rate.

Bull smiled. "I think my letters can wait until morning. We have to show these Jadecloaks who can celebrate the hardest." If any of the other Chargers had been nearby in that moment, they'd have cheered. Krem just smiled. "Still," Bull continued, "it'll make an interesting read, I think. My  _friends_ will be interested to hear where we're headed next, too."

"Heard that too, did you?" Krem breathed out a silent laugh, then nodded. "We haven't seen Orlais in a while. I guess wherever we find work next, it's not going to turn into as much of a mess as this was."

"Hey, you never know," Bull teased. "Seriously though, this mess wasn't your fault. We needed the work and there weren't many warning signs until we met Maggie or… whatever her name was. We handled this the best that we could. You've got nothing to beat yourself up about."

Krem nodded. The words  _did_  help him feel better.

Thy returned to the campfire and Bull moved to sit next to Sully Two-toes, who was offering out a mug of something greenish in colour with steam rising from the top. Krem wasn't surprised when the chief laughed and downed it in one big gulp. Smiling at the sight, he settled down on a log beside Stitches and asked, "What d'you make of all this madness?"

Stitches thought about it for a moment, then nodded. "There's no dull moments with the Chargers, I'll say that," he answered, just as Grim came by to hand them each a mug. "Might as well stick around and see where  _all this madness_ takes me."

Krem clinked his mug against Stitches'. "To no dull moments," he toasted.

"No dull moments," Stitches agreed.

"Since you're sticking around, it's about time you learned the song." At that, Krem stood up on the log and raised his mug in the air. "No man can beat the Chargers…" he began at the top of his lungs.

"Cause we'll hit you where it hurts!" the others joined in instantly, their singing as loud as it was tuneless. "Unless you know a tavern with loose cards and looser skirts. For every bloody battlefield, we'll gladly raise a cup. No matter what tomorrow holds, our horns be pointing up!"

The new recruits stared on, a bit bemused, and Krem chugged the contents of his mug, glad to be surrounded by friends and to belong to a company that made him proud to be who he was. Antivan assassins and double-crossing noblemen be damned.


End file.
